I want to thank Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for granting me my first ARC wish!
When I first saw this book I was incredibly excited to get my hands on it, so when I did and I realized that it took place 10 years later with no Eelyn and no Fiske, I was worried. I fell for those two in Sky in the Deep and I was not ready for it to end. I had assumed this book was following their story but after I got over the initial shock and disappointment, I came to love Tova and Halvard. I liked him in the first book and he just got better in this one! His relationship with Eelyn was so heartwarming to see, especially when my favorite scene from the first book was their bonding during the Herja attack. I also liked Myra’s newfound maternal instinct to protect him. It showcased another side of her and it was adorable!
Halvard is determined to keep the peace his family achieved and his support system was never-ending. People who barely knew him put their trust in him, even if that meant their very lives. He also adopted his mother’s skills of healing that I loved so much in Fiske and I was definitely grateful for that. It provided good consistency to the story that Adrienne Young was weaving.
“I tried to tell myself that it was the way of mortals to find war. Peace was like kindling, just waiting for the smallest flame.”
I live for new characters, and if they’re shrouded in mystery all the better. Young introduced Tova, the very same girl that the sea gave back (hence the title!) and her decision to link superstition and magic together into this new clan from the Headlands called the Kyrr, made me liking this book! It played on the obsessive need to know one’s future and it mixed great with this violent world. Vikings craved battle and wanting to know what way it will sway is an easy and straight-forward plot to follow. And the consequences for knowing such things were often what separated life from death and that simple concept made this addictive. This storyline made the 10-year peace transition and character change less jarring. I was in constant fear that my newfound favourites, Tova and Halvard and old friends like Fiske, Myra and Eelyn were going to die which made me unable to put the book down. I had to know that they were alright. When an author’s words make you feel like that, you know you have a good book in your hands. They made you invested and that’s powerful writing.
I’m an absolute sucker for well-worded description and while there were quite a few examples in here which left me in awe, I must say Young’s creative wording with simple colour, literally painted a picture for me.
Phrases like “his blue eyes like stars in the night,” and “the sea inked red with Nadhir blood” are just two examples where she was able to make a comparison that seems common and turn it into something vivid and punchy.
Unfortunately, there were a few downsides in here which I feel I must include. The dual perspective proved to be a little problematic at times as there would be places where scenes were told twice and the overlap just proved unnecessary and slightly repetitive. There were also multiple jumps between past and present that seemed to be a little confusing to the story and again I feel like that was because of the dual perspective. These served a purpose to expose important elements necessary in understanding the present animosity between clans but it seemed to hurt more than it helped. As soon as I started to figure out what was happening one of these time jumps would happen and then I was left back where I started, confused. It made me feel like I wasn’t absorbing the story properly. When you have to wrack your brain trying to make sure that you get the story and all its moving parts, it makes it more daunting than enjoyable. Sometimes I felt dumb because I wasn’t sure I knew what happened. Reading passages over to understand helped but I feel like this information could have been introduced through other methods, such as two characters discussing it and someone overhearing it rather than depicting it as if it’s happening right now. Especially is you use characters who were there if they’re talking about a moment from the past. I just think that might have alleviated this issue and made for a smoother read.
Despite the issues I had with the structure I really liked this book. Maybe it’s something to do with Vikings and my fascination with history but I just loved Young’s writing and creativity she brought to bringing this point in history to life. There was magic and illusion, love and betrayal. It was another tale that made me feel some severe emotions and connections to her characters and I find that truly powerful. So bravo!! I look forward to more by her.